


The Penny Drops

by TheFoolsYouSee



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: F/F, First Dates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:48:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26737642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFoolsYouSee/pseuds/TheFoolsYouSee
Summary: Della and Penumbra have different ideas about what 'going out for coffee' means.
Relationships: Della Duck/Penumbra
Comments: 28
Kudos: 117





	The Penny Drops

Della gave the bolt one final twist and sat back on the metal platform, wiping away the sweat that was seeping through the feathers on her brow. After so many times re-attaching parts that Launchpad had knocked off, she now knew the Cloudslayer better than she ever had. She still wished he would stick to crashing things on the road, but at least she now effectively had a complete blueprint of the plane in her head.

‘Della!’

The pilot turned at the sound of her name and looked down to the hangar floor. Her bill broke out into a wide smile.

‘Hey best friend!’ she called down to Penumbra, who was stood below the Cloudslayer. The purple alien no longer wore her golden armour everywhere and these days dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, her short sweep of white hair now exposed without her helmet. She was awkwardly clutching her elbow with the hand of her other arm.

‘Hello, best friend,’ the Moonlander responded dutifully. ‘It looks like you’ve finished up here.’

‘Yep!’ Della gave the plane a firm bump with her fist. ‘Next time we have to fly through lava, she might melt apart, but she _won’t_ fall apart.’

‘Good,’ Penumbra nodded. She seemed to notice her hands and brought them stiffly down to her sides. ‘Now that you’re finished, I wondered if you’d like to go out for some Earth koh- _fee._ ’

‘Sure!’ Della grinned. Since deciding to stay on Earth, Penumbra had been making more of an effort to try new things, although Della was impressed that she was going back to give coffee a second go after how she'd described her first experience of it. The Earthling dropped her wrench back in the toolbox and jumped off the platform, sliding down one of the poles supporting it and landing on her metal foot with a clank.

‘Shall we?’

* * *

After three sachets of sugar, Della was finally happy with the balanced taste of her drink. She took a gulp and sighed with satisfaction.

‘You know, I still sometimes wake up with the taste of that Oxy-Chew gum in my mouth,’ she said to Penumbra. They were sat at a table in the café’s outdoor seating area, and the Moonlander had taken one sip of the jet-back liquid in her cup, grimaced, and put it firmly to one side.

‘What did you get when you were here before?’ Della asked.

‘This.’ Penumbra pointed to her cup.

Della frowned. ‘I thought you’d want to try something different this time.’

‘The options seemed… complex.’ The former soldier glanced around at the other tables and the variety of different types of coffee that the other customers had in front of them. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to get that part of the experience over with quickly.’

Della felt even more confused. ‘Why did you want to get coffee if you don’t like coffee?’

Penumbra shifted in her seat, seeming unsure of herself all of a sudden. ‘I thought – is it not a traditional element of the Earth courting ritual?’

‘Courting ritual?’ Della squinted at her friend and sucked on her spoon thoughtfully. Then she dropped it on the table with a clatter as realisation flooded over her. ‘Wait, is this a _date?_ ’

The other woman nodded.

_‘Penny!’_ Della suddenly remembered the oil stain on her jacket, and that her hair was still scruffy from her session fixing the Cloudslayer.

Penumbra appeared to notice her companion’s flusteredness, and her eyes widened. ‘I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear,’ she said apologetically. ‘I’m still trying to understand Earth culture, and even on the Moon… this isn’t something I have much experience in.’

‘No, it’s OK! I guess I'm out of practice too. I’ve not been on a date since… well, since the boys.’

‘Oh.’ The Moonlander’s shoulders sagged. ‘I didn’t think about whether Earthlings would not want to day- _eet_ if they had offspring.’

‘No, no, no!’ Della interrupted quickly. ‘They do. _We_ do. I just… was really not expecting this, Penny!’ She shook her head in disbelief. ‘Explain yourself, soldier!’

Penumbra started fiddling with the empty sugar packets Della had left on the table, keeping her eyes down.

‘I lived a solitary life on the Moon,’ she began. ‘I was set apart from the others; Lunaris was their leader, and I was their protector. The other Moonlanders respected me, but were also intimidated by me. I never formed any close friendships... until you came along.’

Penumbra met Della’s gaze again with a soft look that Della had never seen in those violet eyes before. Then her friend’s smile turned into a chuckle.

‘At first I found you infuriating. I was frustrated by how you’d come along and changed everything, and I didn’t try to hide it. But you still seemed to genuinely like me. Even when I was less than friendly, and after my people invaded your world, you still wanted to be my friend. It was a new feeling. When the others decided to stay, I realised that there was nothing left for me on the Moon, and,’ Penumbra dropped her eyes again as her cheeks blushed a darker purple. ‘ _everything_ here.’

Della was lost for words. She tried to process the bombshell that had just been dropped on her and come up with a response. The silence went on for so long that Penumbra actually took a second sip of her coffee just to try and break the awkwardness with some kind of action.

The Earthling finally slammed her hand on the table. ‘Well, if this is a date, then we should do something that we can both enjoy. Come on, I know a place.’

* * *

The laser tag arena had tried to insist that they come in a team of six for their own sake, but after Penumbra had taken one of the pistols and managed to beat the practice target gallery round in a matter of seconds, the pair were let through. Della had recognised the opposing team as some of Glomgold’s minions who seemed to be on a work team-building exercise, but they were all now cowering behind the barriers scattered across the maze. Penumbra was firing her electronic pistol manically, the sensor strapped to her torso showing zero hits.

‘This is amazing!’ Penumbra cried out across to Della. ‘It’s the thrill of battle without any of the psychological trauma of your actions!’

‘Y-yeah!’ Della called back, putting the concerning comment to one side for now. One of the other team tried to dart to a different spot of cover, and Della fired an invisible laser squarely into their sensor.

It only took couple of rounds for the other team to start turning on each other and get kicked out, so Della and Penumbra had been allowed to do some one-on-one matches with their remaining time. Although Penumbra won most of them, Della had managed to sneak up on the Moonlander in the final round and planted six shots in her back. Penumbra had been incredibly proud of her.

The sun was setting by the time they exited the arena, and Della remembered her promise of joining the family for dinner.

‘What do you have as the tradition for concluding Earth dates?’ she asked.

‘I think I should walk you home.’ Penumbra replied.

They chatted easily on their way back to McDuck Manor, reliving memories from the short time when they’d been roommates in Tranquillity. Although Penumbra seemed relaxed, Della noticed that the alien had her hands clasped together the whole way. The sun had fully set by the time they reached the manor’s front door, and Della lingered outside it. Between their conversations and the laser tag, she’d not had much time to think things over.

‘So…’ she began. ‘I guess this is when we, um, evaluate, and, uh, make some kind of decision as to, um… okay, what _is_ that?’ Della finally pointed to Penumbra’s hands, which were still gripping each other firmly. ‘What are you doing there?’

‘Oh.’ The Moonlander glanced down at them. ‘I’ve heard that holding hands is an Earth gesture of affection.’

The Earthling’s heart fluttered at the adorable sight of the muscular purple woman looking assuredly down at her as she held her own hand. _Who am I kidding?_ Della thought to herself.

‘No, sweetie,’ she said as she corrected the other woman. ‘It’s more like… this.’

‘…Oh. Yes, I can see the appeal now.’

The pair smiled nervously at each other. Then a voice started to come from behind the door.

‘I’m checking, I’m checking!’

The door opened, and Louie peered round it, looking them both up and down before calling back inside.

‘No, it’s just Mom and her moon girlfriend.’

Huey’s voice called back to him, ‘Well it’s definitely gonna be free cos it’s been more than thirty WAIT, HER _WHAT?!’_

Huey shot into view round the door next to Louie, soon followed by Dewey. Della grinned sheepishly at her children as she swung Penumbra’s hand in a confirmatory way.

‘Hello, small Dellas.’ Penumbra stood up straight, putting her other hand behind her back. ‘I will now be your secondary caregiver. Drills will begin at 5am.’

Another, more crotchety voice approached the door.

‘If that pizza boy is trying to talk you into a tip, then you tell him from me-‘

The door was pulled fully open and Scrooge McDuck stopped in his tirade, blinking in surprise at the sight that befell him.

‘Oh! Well, Della,’ he chuckled awkwardly, ‘it seems _you’ve_ had quite the day.’

Penumbra’s hand gripped Della’s tighter; she appeared to be getting a little tense at all the agog eyes on her, and turned back to the shorter woman.

‘Now I have completed the task of walking you home, I think I should go.’

‘Nonsense!’ Scrooge grabbed the alien’s arm and pulled her into the manor. ‘You’re _obviously_ staying for dinner.’

Della gave Penumbra an apologetic smile as the door was closed behind them. Dewey and Huey bounced up and down around the purple Moonlander chattering excitedly.

‘First we had no Moon-Moms, and now we have _two_ Moon-Moms!’

‘What are your culture’s romantic customs? Are you still able to kiss people or would you not be able to breathe because you don’t have nostrils? And it’s not relevant to this, but if you’re still really strong under Earth’s gravity, then how strong were you on the _moon?!_ ’

Louie, however had strolled back to the couch and was sat watching TV.

‘Louie, honey?’ Della said. ‘You don’t seem very surprised that me and Penny are now… something.’

The boy in the green sweater tilted his head at her with a frown.

‘Were you not before?’ he asked, confused.

Scrooge sighed and gave him a friendly cuff on the head. ‘Sharper than the sharpies, indeed.’

‘Hey, I clearly picked up on something.’ Louie shrugged.

The rest of the evening passed happily. Penumbra added ‘peet-zah’ to the list of Earth delicacies she had now tried and patiently fielded Huey’s questions about Moonlander culture. As he was asking her about how the new population was reacting to Earth diseases, she looked over at Della with a shy smile. Della beamed back. Once again, their family had just gotten a little bigger.


End file.
